Jack Pescod grooves like no pianist I have seen in recent years.
The hooks are catchy, the harmonies challenging, neat and innovative.
It is almost as if Jimmy Page or Albert Hammond Jr.
had turned to Jazz piano.
Although not as 'commercial' or at least 'poppy' as some of the other piano trios operating in Northern Europe at the present, the Barcode Trio are at the forefront of the jazz scene, with a blistering live act to whip up the most conservative of audiences.
Frequently, and as a result of their tendencies to crossover, they have been compared to EST.
Although a reference to the Ramsey Lewis Trio would perhaps be a more apt comparison for the Barcode Trio, given that both acts enjoy slipping into more dance-like and 'turn the party out' grooves.
The staple theme of the repertoire of the Barcode Trio is not to improvise ideas from the woodshed as much as more traditional jazz bands may prefer, but rather to improvise around the groove adding melodic, repetitive and infectious riffs over the top.
As a result their set is cleverly constructed with well thought out unison parts delivered with youthful spirit and enthusiasm.
Pescod is a man possessed when at the keyboard.
His body oozes piano riffery as he runs up and down the keyboard with all the grace and fire of a virtuoso.
The passion is there in abundance, the joy as he tears through N.
W.
O.
and the exclamations as he voices along to his fingers.
Sam Nadel on drums and Herbert Gracey on the bass lay it down in your pocket whilst Pescod directs and intuits.
A must have album for devotees to an act that are just scratching at the surface and a live act not to be missed.